


the royal.

by theholylight



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Developing Relationship, Established Relationship, F/F, Gen, M/M, Past Relationship(s), but beyond that its just my headcanons pretty much, but this is just a tag in case you dont want to know anything about them, mainly for the names of the persona not gonna go into detail about their designs, probably gonna be the case but yeah, royal spoilers for what was shown in the trailers, this fic assumes kasumi is causing everyones wishes to become real, ultimate persona spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-08-11 04:34:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20147698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theholylight/pseuds/theholylight
Summary: This didn't feel right...... and yet, no one believed him when he said so, even the one he felt such a close connection to.(Or, Goro Akechi realizes that they are all trapped in a fake dream world seemingly caused by Yoshizawa and sets out to make things right)





	1. prologue

Goro Akechi survived a lot of things in his eighteen years of life.

The world around him seemingly changing to include impossible things even after they took down the God that was attempting to turn him against everyone, when it was all supposed to be over ... but no, his Persona remained with him, the Metaverse was still intact as he found out almost by accident after the clock ticked it's last minute before the night moved to January 1st, a start of a new year that was meant to put everything behind them but... instead, strange things began occurring. Parents who were previously dead returning, Takamaki's friend who transferred to a different school coming back and causing a rift in her relationship with the younger Niijima (he could see the jealousy in those red eyes before she had briskly walked away, claiming that she had to go and be there for her father while he was receiving a reward, which is one of the many impossible yet possible things happening as he clearly remembered her older sister telling him that he had passed away years ago), Sakamoto suddenly being back on the track team and getting a scholarship for it, Kitagawa's mother's painting being officially recognized, Morgana suddenly having a human form ... all of it felt like a dream, too good to be truly real, which is what cause his suspicions to blare like an alarm in his head...

... however, there was where the problem was - he was alone in this. Several weak attempts of trying to break them out of this mess and being looked at like he was crazy (which he was going to thank them for later, once he solved this ... dream, or whatever it was) and being unable to find Yoshizawa anywhere, Goro had tried to seek out his boyfriend, hoping their leader would know what to do or at least that ... not-cat now, which was still weird to think about. But no, said boyfriend declined to help him put a stop to this, the brunet knowing that he was fully aware of the fake going on around them but seemingly preferring to see his friends and teammates being happy instead of destroying it for them ...

... and, to a degree, Goro could understand that. His plan to do this wasn't based in cruelty but... to him, it was worse to live in a lie like this, for if it were to disappear later on, it would only hurt them more. He had tried to explain this to Ren, too, but to no avail. Feeling the humming of his Persona in the back of his mind, Goro Akechi - former detective prince turned Phantom Thief - decided to get up for the day, ignoring the sounds of his mother chattering happily in the kitchen while talking to his father. After all, that was how he realized that this was all a fake world made of dreams, Yoshizawa's seeming disappearance from their lives and the life of her girlfriend not helping his opinion on that but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find her. All the Palaces were gone and she was nowhere to be seen in Mementos so ... eyes wide, the brunet stopped while lacing his shoes, brain calculating the thought ... could there be another Palace? 

Shaking his head and leaving that thought for later when he could finally get his stubborn boyfriend to listen to him, Goro finished putting on his winter coat and walked out of the room, pretending not to hear his father's greeting and telling his mother that he wasn't hungry and would grab a bite later, before walking out of the apartment they lived in - so much like his in reality, just slightly bigger to accommodate his parents too - and out into this fake, sightless world. 

No matter what Ren said, to him - to Goro Akechi, who lived in neglect as far as he could remember - leaving everyone in their dreams was far more cruel for it wasn't **_real_**.

And it never would be.

With his head held up high, he went on for his first order of business of the day and his new plan that now didn't include his boyfriend - get Ryuji Sakamoto to see reason and work from there.


	2. the chariot

Naturally, Ryuji Sakamoto was not hard to find.

Peeking from around a corner, the former detective prince watched as the blonde laughed and joked around with who should be his former teammates, Ren nearby in that coat that made him look ... no, it wasn't a good idea to get sidetracked right now - he would have to wait for his boyfriend and the others to leave, for talking with Sakamoto on his own would be much easier and, hopefully, less annoying than trying to deal with an entire group, knowing Ren wouldn't be on his side ... likewise, seeing him carrying that empty school bag of his felt... wrong. But then again, having Morgana as he was in the bag right now wouldn't make sense and yet ... it still felt like one of the many things wrong with this world, this ... dream. Closing his eyes and forcing back the anger, Goro hid before Ren could see him - and he wasn't certain if that even worked - and waited... _patiently_. At last, after some time, Sakamoto was left on his own and began to walk home, so he took his chance - there weren't many left and he realized that, the cold, hard fact that this world was slowly overwhelming what he knew as reality... - and walked out, brown coat slightly blowing in the wind behind him as he crossed the street, narrowly avoiding a car and not even paying attention to the driver's tone as he stopped in front of the blonde, suddenly out of breath ... this was too much, too much for someone who spent years doing just fine on his own and yet... Goro was the only one who could do this. He wouldn't, no couldn't, let them live in this fake reality anymore. Whatever he was there to greet them on the other side or not was not the important matter here.

"Sakamoto..." 

"Oh, hey dude!" Ryuji waved **cheerily** at him, as if this world wasn't strange and twisted enough. "RenRen just left, you missed him by like a second..."

"It's okay, he's not who I want to talk with, anyway." with a deep breath knowing that this wasn't going to work, Goro said. "Sakamoto, this world is fake. You don't have a scholarship, you are not back on the team ... hell, how did you not notice that Ren isn't carrying Morgana around anymore!?" 

"Come on, that's a bad joke, even for your sense of humor..." Ryuji looked sad, shaking his head as he tried to move past the detective. "... look, mom is making celebration dinner tonight - my favorite - and I can't be late so, see you later when RenRen calls us over for the next sleepover..." but before he could leave, his arm was grabbed, forcing him to look into those red eyes. "... dude!?"

"You don't get it, do you? Look, I know you may not be the most book smart among us but even I thought that you had more ideals, more morals then this fakery that Yoshizawa pulled us all into!" Goro found it hard to keep his voice down but he had to, for trouble with disturbing the peace wouldn't help either of them right now... then again, nor would pulling Sakamoto away some place quiet. Luckily, the street was more or less empty aside from them but he knew it wouldn't remain that way. "Sakamoto, open your eyes! I don't know you well but even I realize that you'd want something _real_ over this **dream**!"

"Look, Akechi..." stumbling through his school bag, the blonde produced a rumpled yet still well kept paper, pushing it into the detective's face. "... this proves that this is real, I don't know what else you would like me to tell you, I ... hey!"

Goro grabbed the paper while Sakamoto was paying little attention, holding it away for a moment before doing the same to the blonde as he did to him moments ago.

"Then you should know that this is fake! I know you, you would have preferred to earn this the honest way, not just as a wish granted by Yoshizawa! Regardless, if you won't do this for yourself, do it for Ann, Ren and the others..." trailing off, he couldn't help but feel like his clock was ticking away, sealing his last chance as he tore the paper right in front of the blonde's brown eyes. "... wake up and get off your butt, _Skull_!"

It wasn't like him to lose his temper, to just tear up something dear to someone right in front of them or even call the others by their stupid nicknames when they weren't traversing through Sae's Palace and yet... it's exactly what happened. He had hoped to only talk to Sakamoto, perhaps give him some proof over how this wasn't real, but instead... he certainly went through this in a less verbal manner than he thought he would have and yet... there was spark there, in the blonde's eyes, that was absent ever since this thing started happening...

"Akechi!?"

"I guess you are back to normal, huh?" muttering, he dumped the pieces of the paper in Sakamoto's outstretched hands, sighing as he quietly added. "It's only the start of January, I thought we had defeated the being that was causing all of this and yet..."

"Eh, don't get sad and pathetic now. It's like you said, we need to work and get off our butts." Ryuji nodded, moving to dispose of the reminder of his scholarship in a nearby trash bin, a hint of sadness in his eyes before they grew determined again. "I knew something was off and yet... it felt like something was stopping me from realizing it until you tore that paper, weird huh? Seiten was far more vocal lately too, guess now I know why... I think he were trying to warn me about this and I... didn't listen, too hang up in my dream becoming my reality..." with a soft smile on his face, he turned to face Akechi again. "... well, let's work together one last time, huh, Crow? No more feeling sorry for myself, time to take back our future!"

Blinking, Goro could only stare as - all so suddenly - a blue mist began swirling around the blonde's head, growing faster as shapes of what looked like both of his Persona... began to merge together? Fascinated, he watched as the soft smile on the blonde's face turned into a surprised yet content look.

"I guess this was what I was missing this whole time, huh? Well then, time to hit the waves, William!" 

The former detective was a bit unsure of what that saying meant, but it didn't matter. It looked like Sakamoto finally woke up, seemed to be on his side for this matter when even his boyfriend wasn't and ... gained a new Persona? They would have to discuss this later, but for now, they would have to work towards their next target, someone who was much harder to find if she was as busy as Goro believed her to be in this reality, what with...

"Hate to stop your self-confidence party, but we need to find Takamaki. Do you know where she is?"

"Ann?" Ryuji blinked and turned around, gazing down the street as more people began to show up, looking at the teenagers in question. Luckily, no one had seen what happened earlier... and Goro would prefer to keep it between just the two of them, anyway. "I think last I saw her - it really does feel like a dream or like water that's hard to get through - she was at the park with Suzui... wait, before all of this happened, they were dating but they broke up and Ann is dating Makoto now... you don't think?"

Goro smiled sardonically at the astonished look on the younger teen's face.

"Well, I guess we are going to find out when we locate Panther, yes?" 

Mentally, the brunet counted down one. If he could get everyone to see reason, he could also possibly get Ren to listen to him, stop Yoshizawa and return back to their reality, no matter what that meant for him. Yes, the plan was moving splendidly so far but as Goro learned thanks to this group, as a matter of fact, it was not to get arrogant and wait for matters to solve themselves. No, he and Sakamoto would have to go seek out Takamaki on their own... and hope that it would work, that the bond he saw her share with the younger Niijima was strong enough to wake up from this dream...

... if it wasn't, this would be much harder in retrospect. But could anyone blame him for being a cynic when it comes to love? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Overall, I think this confrontation went well. Goro reacted the way he did because of him meeting Ren and befriending him, before that I don't think he would have been this patient with Ryuji's stubbornness, at least not to this degree XD Anyway, what do you guys think? Likewise, the next chapter will explore Ann and her relationships with Shiho and Makoto, respectively.


End file.
